The following are essays by members of the Lafayette Lifewriting Class of Lafayette, Louisiana.

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

There's a Monkey in the Christmas Tree

By Malcolm Domingue

It was the week before Christmas and the family gathered at the home of my
Aunt Lucille to exchange Christmas gifts. The rooms of the house were arranged
so that you entered the front door into the Living Room which led into the
Dining Room, and through a doorway lead to the Kitchen. A hall ran the length
of the house so that those rooms were to the right of the hall, and all Bed
Rooms and Baths were located to the left of the hall.

The tall Christmas Tree was beautifully decorated and was placed to the
right of the entrance into the Living Room from the front porch. My Aunt
Lucille had a penchant for the unusual which led her to purchase a small monkey
as a Christmas gift for her son. The monkey was unbelievably small being no
more than six inches tall. He was the center of attention as the family arrived
and began to be excited by all of the noise and commotion of arriving guests.
In his excited state he began to scamper through the house across the Living
Room, on into the Dining Room and Kitchen, taking a turn now down the hall which
brought him back to his starting point in the Living Room, where upon he would
repeat his circuitous track again and again. He continued this wild race
through the house moving so quickly that we were unable to catch him. He
needed to be in his cage but the little rascal bolted like a flash of
lightening and could not be subdued.

It was at this point in the commotion that my Aunt Lillian and her husband,
Uncle Tilman arrived coming through the front door just as the monkey leapt up
into the Christmas Tree. At this time, neither of them had seen the monkey. As
Aunt Lillian walked past the tree the monkey lunged toward her landing in her
hands. Having just arrived into the house she was startled, to say the least,
and was not quite sure what it was that she was holding in her hands when the
monkey in its excitement bit her finger, then dashed forward commencing his mad
dash again and again being cheered on by the children. She let out a blood
curdling scream which frightened the monkey spurring him on to move ever so
much faster, and now some of the other older aunts were becoming

agitated and were chiming in with their own screams while uttering words of
displeasure over the wild monkey incident.

Now Aunt Lillian was known to be the most extreme of hypochondriacs in the
family and it was well known by everyone that she enjoyed poor health and beamed
when anyone paid attention to her exaggerated tales about her health. So at
this point of having been bitten by the monkey, we took turns going by and
examining her finger to which would be added the need to have a doctor examine
her finger just in case the monkey did carry some rare jungle disease. One by
one, we all went by and with great respect told her all the horrible things we
could imagine that could occur from being bitten by a creature like this big six
inch tall monkey.

Gifts have been exchanged, opened and paper and ribbon clutters the floor.
The excitement of the monkey incident is now passed and multiple conversations
are going on, when suddenly there is a lull in the conversation and no one is
uttering a word, then we hear from the hall my aunt saying into the phone,
“Hello Lourdes, this is Mrs. Chatelain honey, there was this monkey in the
Christmas tree,” and at that point my Uncle Tilman yells out, “Damn you Lillian,
half the town thinks you’re crazy already, now they’ll know for sure, HANG UP
THE DAMN PHONE!!! And she did, so in our family while other families tell the
story of"T’was The Night Before Christmas," we tell the story about “The
Night There Was a Monkey in the Christmas Tree,” and remember an old eccentric
old Aunt who we loved dearly and wish she was still here to share her life with
us.

About Me

The University of Louisiana-Lafayette Lifewriters class is taught by Kim Graham and Cheré Coen.

To register for Life Writing classes please contact: Amanda Doyle at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette University College (337) 482-1308. All classes are held at the Grace Presbyterian Church, 518 Roselawn Boulevard, Lafayette, Louisiana.